Woman admits cruelty and assault on adopted children

[Alison J Stevens]

Woman admits cruelty and assault on adopted children

Leicester Crown Court

By suzy gibson court staff

A woman has admitted cruelty to her adopted son and slapping his sister.

The 38-year-old and her husband took in two girls and their “challenging” brother but she was unable to cope with them because of a lack of support from social services, Leicester Crown Court heard.

The mother, who cannot be named because of a court order protecting the identity of the children, sent the boy to his bedroom from 3.30pm.

He would go without supper if he did not apologise for his bad behaviour.

The woman, appearing in court on Thursday, admitted cruelty to the boy by withholding emotional support, between September 2008 and February 2009.

She also admitted common assault on her 11-year-old adopted daughter, by slapping her across the face for stealing money from her.

She was given a 12-month conditional discharge by Judge Sylvia De Bertodano, who said she had been “punished enough”.

The court heard the childless couple adopted three children, aged one, four and five, with hopes of having “a happy family” in 2002.

Judge De Bertodano said: “These children presented a considerable challenge to any adoptive parents, experienced or not.

“The four-year-old boy suffered considerably at the hands of his natural parents and his behaviour was difficult to control and became more so.”

Passing sentence, she told the defendant: “You should have had more support when it was clear you weren’t coping.

“You consistently asked for help and got some but not enough.

“When you withdrew emotional support from the boy, you did so to protect the girls.

“It’s a most unusual situation and, in 2008, you were diagnosed with depression as a result. You’ve expressed enormous remorse and lost your job (by resigning).

“It’s not a case of willful cruelty or anything like it. It was a family at its wits end.”

The children have been placed with new carers.

The court heard the boy was destructive and bullied his sisters. He would only be allowed to join the family for supper if he apologised.

Caroline Bradley, in mitigation, said: “It’s one of the most difficult child cruelty cases I’ve ever dealt with.”

Before the children were placed with the family, psychiatrists identified that the youngsters would require help to get over their background.

The couple were not informed about that.

Ms Bradley said when the boy “became intolerable”, the couple went to social services.

They had help initially “but the respite was short-lived,” said Ms Bradley.

In February 2009, she rang social services saying she needed respite and they did not provide it.

Ms Bradley said: “Had social services acted, he wouldn’t have been treated in the way he was for those few weeks.

“The mother did all she possibly could.”

Leicester City Council declined to comment on the case.